The partnership between BB Merah Putih and BlackBerry has resulted in the launch of yet another Blackberry-branded smartphone called ‘Aurora’ in Indonesia, today. The agreement signed in September granted BB Merah Putih the rights to manufacture and sell BlackBerry smartphones in Indonesia. While in most parts of the world, these rights account to TCL, the Chinese hardware giant.
Blackberry Aurora fully developed in Indonesia offers Dual SIM functionality and runs on Android 7.0 Nougat. The said handset is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. It packs 32GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via a Micro SD card. The phone is equipped with a 3,000 mAh battery and connectivity options including 4G LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/ n connectivity.
Being a budget phone, the device offers premium display featuring a 5.5-inch screen with 720×1280 pixel resolution. The phone approximately priced at $260 (IDR 3,499,000) was available for pre-orders since March 3 but is expected to roll out in the market within the coming week.
Launching the latest device in Indonesia at a company event, Alex Thurber, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobility Solutions for BlackBerry said,
We sincerely congratulate BB Merah Putih on the new BlackBerry Aurora, the latest device launched under our software licensing strategy and new model for delivering the ‘smart’ in the smartphone.
Our customers in Indonesia are very important to BlackBerry, and as we focus on software innovation, we are very excited about our partnership with BB Merah Putih.
In the camera department, the phone houses a 13MP rear unit and an 8 MP selfie shooter. It is available in three color variants – black, silver, and gold. The device weighing 178 gms and measuring 152×76.8×8.5mm will be released in other regions based on its success in Indonesia.
The company recently launched its flagship device KEYOne (aka Mercury) through its official hardware maker TCL at MWC 2017. The luxury handset combines the latest tech with the trademark Blackberry physical keyboard. The company is currently in search of more licensing partners to launch the said device and its future smartphones around the globe.
